Celebrations of a New Year Around the World

By Ka-Yeon Kim and Eun-Hyun Hwang Ka-Yeon Kim and Eun-Hyun Hwangl½ÂÀÎ2009.12.01l294È£ 0¸é

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For the last few years, seeing the sunrise has been settled down as one of the customs of opening a new year: families and couples go on a trip to see the sunrise of a new year. Greeting a new year by seeing the sunrise has become an important event to us. The New Year of 2010 is coming. How will the people from all over the world greet a new year? By looking at their different ways of meeting a new year, we want to welcome 2010. The Dankook Herald have found out some interesting interviews.

 

   
Prof. Dorlisca Hilares, Dept. of Spanish
Prof. Dorlisca Hilares, Dept. of Spanish
“A new year, for most Peruvian, is a new starting time, a time of hope, gratitude, solidarity and reconciliation and an opportunity to review the past. It is such a huge celebration in Peru that families and friends gather in many places and homes, drink and dance all night. In some places the people dress up a doll with old clothes and then burn it, which signifies getting rid of the old, and making a new start. Twelve grapes are prepared and tied with a yellow ribbon; those are going to be eaten exactly at midnight when the church bell rings announcing a new coming year. For a new year, we eat a whole turkey well decorated with salad, a pieces of melon and rice. The color of your underwear for a new year is also important: yellow is most popular (for happiness and luck) and then red (for love) or green (for money).”

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now let's look over the Songkran Festival in Thailand.Thailand welcomes a new year3 times; one for the solar calendar, one for the lunar and one for the Thai calendar which has been made throughout the centuries. The Songkran Festival is usually held on mid April. This period is very important because it is the changing moment of the dry season to the wet season: beginning of the real summer. So not to get heatstroke during the summer, they spread water to each other or paste powder to cool down their body. Moreover, the meaning of spreading water is not only about overcoming the hot season, but to wish to spend a new year well, and wash away the bad memories and hard times you had. Though it was an event to pray for rain to sky at first, now it is an enjoyable festival which anybody could participate in. People all come out along the street, so the traffic jam could be heavy and dangerous. But it's not a big matter to Thais.

 

 

   
New year's greeting of the tribe of Lahu in Tibet starts 5 days before the first day of a new year. They raise festive foods on the altar such as pig's head, wine, dried meat and fruits. This seems familiar to our traditional way. The last day of the festival is the peak of the feast. They dance and sing all night, playing instruments around the altar. That is the way they enjoy the last night of the year. The next day, they weave bamboo stems together and make a plank to throw away all the bad memories and experiences they had during the past year. (For example, they litter the clothes they wore during sickness, foods which caused indigestion etc.) They gather it on the plate and put it on fire. That is how the tribe of Lahu  bids out the old year and prepare the next year wishing good luck.

Scotland, one of the province of England, has its own New Year Greeting called ‘Hogmanay’ or ‘First Footing.’

   
Through Hogmanay ceremony, the luck of a new year will depend on the first person who visits someone's house. However, that guy should be tall and have black hair, so he will bring a good luck to that house. Therefore, the Scottish invite one of oriental people for a new year. Scotland gets into full of excitement in December 31 from 5:00p.m. People dance and play Latin, Hip-hop, Jazz and other music that gives a final ending of the last day. There isn’t any special food for a new year but the Scottish prepares food with family and receives a new year.

 

In our traditional society the custom of welcoming the first moon was well-known than the welcoming the first sun. Our ancestors piled up some woods when the moon came up and burned them wishing a good luck. Also they built a house of moon and burned it highly to the sky. However, the lunar calendar disappeared slowly and the solar calendar became popular. As January first has taken place as new year's greeting. Nowadays, we are making our own new year ceremony according to our needs. Although the custom of welcoming a new year came with the settlement of the solar calendar, it has the same meaning in looking back to the past, welcoming a new year and hoping for tomorrow. As we look into a variety of New Year's greeting in the world, we know that how to celebrate a new year is different but it has the same meaning 2010 is coming. We are hoping to look back to the previous year and restart the New Year with a challenging spirit and a new hope.


Ka-Yeon Kim and Eun-Hyun Hwang  dkherald.gmail.com
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